THE ART OF MANAGEMENT: WENGER STYLE…….Don McMahon
Any Gooners who are stupid enough to listen to the media, the pundits, the aaa, the pseudo X-box managers, the so-called experts and other assorted idiots, will have been hearing lamentations about how Wenger hasn’t brought in the ¨missing links¨ so desperately needed to ensure the Arsenal win everything this season!
UA has been ceaselessly reminding anyone who will listen, that managerial changes, uncontrolled buying, thoughless transfers, mindless tweets, ignorant and blinkered posts and so on only serve to undermine the solid basis of the faith we true supporters need to nourish and promote, in our players and manager and almost always fail to achieve anything.
I wouldn’t get too sentimental with AOC and Theo…..a few off games don’t mean anything,it is the voyage, NOT the destination that determines everything. Wenger is an excellent judge of character and ability, as he has chosen both these young men as essential components of an already formidable team.
Wenger is the most senior and experienced AND successful manager left standing, in the EPL and in Europe as well. Why anyone would have the temerity to question his judgement is a testimony to the mental failure displayed by the eternally naive and faithless plastic fanboys and their acolytes in the media and elsewhere. He knows what he is doing, even when it doesn’t work out perfectly. Here is what I believe he is doing;
1: Bringing in in-house competition for the OX and Theo to measure themselves against. He knows that every member of the first team needs someone behind them kicking their asses to motivate them and at the same time reassure them.
2: Sending a message to all the 25 chosen that this is a TEAM game NOT a one-man project. In rotating Theo and the Ox in and out of the first team starting lineup he is saying that anyone is replaceable but that those who show the character and desire he requires, will always be ahead of those who place their egos before the team collective or who fail to follow the plan.
3: Showing that he is willing to make the hard choices and take the risks associated with thoughtful tactical and strategic man-management in order to field the best team, regardless of what the asshole pundits,media,aaa, fickle plastic fanboys and pseudo-managers pretend to know. He’s the boss and he is clearly reminding everyone of that fact.
4: By not bringing in anyone else but Elneny (already a very promising transfer), sending a clear message to his players that there won’t be a superstar coming to rescue their season but rather that THEY are in control of their collective destiny and success and that they don’t need a stranger coming in to lead them to glory….that they are nearly there all by themselves!
5: By supporting and maintaining faith with those who have been out-of-form, injured or going through personal difficulties, thus providing them with ample proof and reasons to reciprocate that loyalty and dare I say, affection..
6: By being willing to take calculated risks and intelligent investment of time and energy on so-called marginal players, who for the most part have paid dividends far surpassing their predicted worth. His paternal and legendary closeness to his charges, regardless of age and form are proof positive that he sees the human side of the game as much as the mechanical and economic side.
7: His timing is exceptional, his ability to produce success under the most trying of circumstances, his perennial sharpness and team chemistry building are renown, and his sharpness in knowing when to transfer or trade a player whose career is not a certain thing at the Emirates, is phenomenal.
8: His undertstanding and astuteness in determining what we need in terms of quality rather than quantity is beyond questioning. Who can say anything about his skilled acquisition of Sanchez, Coquelin, Cech, Ozil, Bellerin, Ospina, Campbell, Monreal, Cazorla, etc. other than BRAVO!
So the next time you hear a whiner complaining about Wenger and his purported stubbornness, stinginess, lack of this or that……………..just remind them and yourself who most young players dream of playing for, who most managers consider as the dean of management, who most supporters envy for his ability to make diamonds out of coal and who FIFA and EUFA refer to when they talk about Mr.Football.
More anniversaries
- 3 February 1919: Having honourably admitted that there were no precedents for the issue of extending the league Tottenham staked their claim to be re-instated in the First Division. Athletic News responded suggesting that Arsenal, Chelsea, Preston and Derby should get the four places.
- 3 February 1937 Derby 5 Arsenal 4. This was a repeat of the score on December 28 1935 in the match against Sunderland and it heralded the second season in succession without a trophy.
The Untold Books
The latest Untold book is Arsenal: The Long Sleep 1953-1970 with an introduction by Bob Wilson, available both as a paperback and as a Kindle book from Amazon. Details of this and our other titles can be found Arsenal Books on this site.
How much did Wenger pay you to write this article of praise and uplifting?
Such a lot of nonsense to praise Wenger and to hide his obvious short comings!!!
Walcott, Wiltshire and Chamberlain are certainly not top class players by any stretch of the imagination, yet he sings their praises regularly. His choice of players to buy very rarely
captures the imagination, Giroud being world class in Wenger’s books!!
Please, I have read far better and subtle articles which attempts to make Wenger a hero.
What a load of drivel. Wengers puppets have spoken, all is well we’ll still get the title then it will be it’s ok we’ll still get 4th. Get a life losers.
it was an interesting decision to replace Flamini with Coquelin in the dying minutes. It told me Arsene Wenger was more concerned with not losing – with Coquelin meaning more disciplined cover against the break than the Flamster – than going for broke. He wasn’t willing to risk a point and go for the three by, for example, putting Oxlade-Chamberlain on for Flamini instead. Who knows, maybe the point will prove vital. It felt a bit conservative though – but then, that is what Arsenal are these days in many ways. If the club really wanted to go for it, they would have told the manager his time was up this summer and gone for Guardiola (or another proven manager). However, they have no wish to risk a solid and reliable business model that gives them financial growth and profits. That, to me, is unexciting. My best memories are of winning trophies, not balance books.
Sure, ‘be careful what you wish for’ is the mantra of the cautious. Things could have been worse these last ten years. But they could have been better. Shouldn’t sport be about excitement, unpredictability, ups and downs? Drama? Arsenal in the Premier League since the stadium move has been purgatory. Halfway between heaven and hell. Arsenal can still win the title, sure, but I don’t feel like I am watching a title-winning team at present. Three points from the last 12. Where is the momentum? Will it be another third or fourth place finish? At least, if Leicester finished above Arsenal, it would put an end to Wenger’s excuse that you cannot compete with the big spenders, you cannot over-achieve if you are financially hampered (although this excuse is a nonsense anyway if you have unused funds in the bank).
Arsenal didn’t blow the title in the goalless draw last night. It was sacrificed in last summer’s transfer window. Plus ça change anyone? Actually, yes, something might be different this season. Spurs could finally finish above Arsene Wenger’s team…
Rathod,
Are you a Tottenham fan in disguise or are you a shopaholic ? Because you sound both.
Rathod or should I call you Somil.
What is the point posting under different names and even responding to your own posts? Seriously, please explain the point of this trolling?
Rathod:
“However, they have no wish to risk a solid and reliable business model that gives them financial growth and profits. That, to me, is unexciting. My best memories are of winning trophies, not balance books”.
Somil (in the prvious article):
“However, they have no wish to risk a solid and reliable business model that gives them financial growth and profits. That, to me, is unexciting. My best memories are of winning trophies, not balance books”
Pretty pathetic.
Are you Arsene Wenger in disguise???Ive never read a bigger pile of Horse shit in all my 46 years..
Especially bits like-an already formidable team.
Why anyone would have the temerity to question his judgement is a testimony to the mental failure displayed by the eternally naive and faithless plastic fanboys and their acolytes in the media and elsewhere.
Rathod what a great post and so true.Usama and proudkev take your heads out of Arsenes arse and point out which part of his post isnt true.
Great article, Don. Some of the above posters are not fit to lick Arsene’s boots.
John,
Are you a Tottenham fan in disguise or a horse sh*t expert? Because you sound both
Thanks for the perspectives that help the anti Wengers to maybe understand his actions.
Wenger is not perfect and his one “failing” to me is just allowing the team to take full responsibility on the field, after all, this is what we do with our children. But, football being what it is, sometimes the players, like our children, need the presence of their manager, urging them on, correcting little mistakes they make.
Rathod/ Kevin Whicher
What a weird thing to do to take a few paragraphs from someone’s blog and pretend they are your own thoughts.
Simplest thing in the world to say, ‘here’s how someone else put it’, and no good reason not to do that.
What can it achieve- a stronger argument for you? But YOU’RE still sat wherever you are in the world knowing they’re not your words, so there seems no point.
A small thing in the grand scheme of things, like all our comments on the internet; yet , all the same, another little piece of evidence that those who talk as you do are often shifty unreliable sorts who can’t resist shortcuts, omissions or other underhand tricks when trying to prove a point.
Hey, you could still be right that we’re losers,too. One things undeniable,though, it’s a loser act to copy and paste from elsewhere and pretend you haven’t.
http://www.onlinegooner.com/article.php?section=editorial&id=594#.VrIQCsfPzVo
More AKB drivel.
Forget this window, but last Summer a Striker should have been bought to supplement what we had & bearing in mind the loss of Welbeck who Wenger would definitely of known was out long term as he is the complete control freak.
Event conspired to give Wenger a ridiculous amount of power including the death of Danny Fizman & the removal of his friend David Dein. The board were terrified he would leave at that moment so fell over themselves to give him whatever he wanted. Part of that him being the only coach to whom the Chief Executive reports to instead of the other way around.
He has become a dinosaur who at his arrival at the club was ahead of the competition but they caught up & continued to evolve unlike Wenger who has failed to do so.
The best teams are a combination of skill, pace, power & tactical nous. Wenger’s best Arsenal teams contained strength & power but in the 2nd half of his reign they haven’t sufficiently resulting in a consistent brittleness at the crunch moments.
Wenger is heralded as a great developer of youth but that is the hugest of myths. The amount of home grown players to make the 1st team during his reign is shockingly poor. Wasted high wages to the unproven likes of Bendtner & Denilson a ten a penny tidy midfielder we went the great distance to Brazil to get.
He frequently reminds us of the torrent of jobs he has turned down such as Real Madrid, treating us like idiots that could not see he is tenure would have been short as they sack winning managers let alone a manager with a long term youth plan.
He tries to pull the wool over Arsenal fans eyes & the AKB brigade fall for it over & over again.
We should be 8 to 10 points clear at the top right now bearing in mind the other usual contenders turmoil & managed by a pragmatic manager we would be.
His salary of £8million to &11million is scandalous pay for a manager without a mandate to deliver the 2 biggest prizes. He talks of parsimony but that doesn’t apply to his pay. The triumphalism over the club’s match day earnings was unedifying as just indicates the immoral squeezing of the fans. Triumphalism should only apply to commercial income & deals.
If he loved & cared so much for Arsenal Football Club, he would have facilitated Pep Guardiola taking over as manager from this Summer. He however cannot let go & only by unlikely sacking or passing away will Wenger ever vacate the manager’s chair.
I sometimes wonder if some of these WOB’s watched the match or just read stuff on the Internet? The team gave everything but was only denied by the keeper who has been playing well, it’s just one of those match where the ball won’t go in the net, ask Bayern Munich when they lost to us.
@ John, the part where he said ‘However, they have no wish to risk a solid and reliable business model that gives them financial growth and profits’ Now, provide evidence this is the case? Don’t give me the ‘they haven’t sacked Wenger’ crap. He is accusing people on something he has no evidence.
Now, we all want the same outcomes, that’s for Arsenal to win everything but tell me how is by going all negative and doing Arsenal bashing will help the team achieve this goal?
Funny, make me laugh, seriously you really think Pep would join Arsenal when his best friends are on the Board at Man City and are willing to give him unlimited money to spend? Now which club would you choose if you were Pep?
A sensible and well balanced article Don.
You have obviously upset some of the aaaa dumbass tossers from Le Groan – which confirms it is a good article!
So Polo are you implying that Pep can only win if he has lots of money to spend?
Pep, Maureen and other celebrity managers, always follow the money. Given the most expensive players they will produce results for a couple of years before either being moved or jumping ship before their failures are found out. To produce the results he has with the resources available shows the true class of Arsene.
There are fourteen matches left to play. There are 42 points still on offer. Every squad suffers a dip in form some time or another. Let this be ours. Elsewhere, our rivals are riding high—for now. I fancy our chances as chasers more than as the chased. I can’t read the minds of our players, but I have to think that their appetites are whetted, their skills sharpened, their desires deepened by the tantalizing taste of a title that they’d enjoyed to this point. They—like us—have to feel that there are trophies to be taken if only they want it and work for it.
If you were to look at our last four results, you’d see the cup as half-empty. That makes sense. After all, we’ve dropped nine points and have fallen to fourth, behind Tottenham (will wonders never cease?). Seen through the pessimistic perspective, it was all-too predictable that we’d bottle our chance. Seen through a more-rational, perhaps-optimistic point of view, we’ve weathered a storm and are gathering strength for the final run-in. We’ve backed ourselves into a bit of a corner, it’s true, but we shall fight our way out of that corner like crazed beasts. Ramsey will rediscover his form. Walcott will lay waste to opposing defenses. Alexis and Özil will—well, they’ll continue to do what they do. Someone will emerge from out of nowhere to set our faces to “stunned”, be it Coquelin or Campbell or who knows who else?
Our backs are up against up, but we’re the ones who’ve put ourselves there. We still have a fighting chance, and our foes have to feel fortunate for our fecklessness. Let them enjoy their spell above us. They know that they haven’t earned it so much as we’ve granted it to them. Wait until they get a load of us at full-strength…
They’re back. I have no idea why they get a kick out of being negative. This may be a way for them to release their anger.
Don
I Dare you post your well balanced and sensible aricle on any other footballing messageboard ,any of your choice, and see what sort of response you get..I guarantee you they will think you are a certified nutter.
It’s one thing to search for silver linings, it’s completely another thing to close your eyes on the facts.
Fact 1. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain didn’t record neither a single league goal nor an assist in 2015.
Fact 2. Theo Walcott has scored a league goal with his every 13th attempt. He is reportedly paid 100.000 pounds per week.
Fact 3. We have failed to score in seven league matches after Gameweek 24. We had failed to find the net in just five occasions last season.
Fact 4. Number of minutes played in the league by Arsenal outfield players signed in either transfer window: 0.
Fact 5. This one should be REPEATED AD NAUSEAM until The Stupid Ones (I will later explain who are they) become The Enlightened Ones:
Stockholm’s Syndrome Football Club haven’t made a single action against the open bias – repeatedly PROVEN by the referee reviewers here – from the PGMOB against the manager and the players during actual football matches which means SS FC are OK with the refereeing so there is no point in mentioning the referees.
(The Stupid Ones are the ones who burned down their mouses by clicking on “dislike” button last night. I challenge them to break their own record.)
We didn’t win the league last year. I don’t think anyone thought we’d win it last year. We finished third position. We were 12 points behind. A keeper wasn’t going to solve that on his own.
We didn’t have a world-class striker in our ranks. We didn’t address a back up for Coquelin. We didn’t invest in additional quality in areas we needed it.
Wenger thought a £17m expenditure over two windows was enough to conquer Europe and the domestic league. If he didn’t think that he should be fired. That he did think that, you need to seriously question him because now we’re likely paying the price for the same ineptitude we’ve seen for years.
Arsene Wenger brought in a defensive midfielder to cover Coquelin 4 months too late and instead of signing someone who could just slip right in and do a job. What was the point in Elneny if he can’t displace the disaster centre that is Flamini in the middle of the park?
A great player for the future? Get away from me with that. Where’s the great player for now who can push us onto the league?
We can all salute Giroud, but this is a 29 year old who has never been more than just a good back up striker for an elite club. Then you have Theo Walcott, another player who has been made a marquee contract signing twice despite only showing the necessary goods in the odd spat between major injury.
Our squad doesn’t feel balanced with quality. We have players like Arteta who can barely run. We dish out mega contracts to hopeful crocks (Wilshere) and actual crocks (Rosicky). We’re a team that bats above our average for a few months, but we don’t have the power of individual skill, nor the stamina and mentality you need to truly succeed.
We’re not out of the race. We’re still very much in it. But I think most of my match reports this year have said that.
‘It’s ok because…’
Shouldn’t I be writing about the home run? Shouldn’t we be saying, ‘jeez, this team looks mean this year.’ Shouldn’t we be having a different conversation for once?
Arsene Wenger has no excuse for this. He’s had all the money. He’s had 5 years to build this squad. But he still doesn’t get it, does he?
The most worrying thing about this season isn’t the players, it’s the Arsene can’t fire them up. Because I don’t know about you, but I think there are other managers that could do a better job with the players we have.
Yesterday was actually Groundhog day in the US. The story goes that the Arsenal supporting rodent comes out of his hole and if he sees his shadow, he goes back in his hole for another 6 weeks and summer starts late. He saw the shadow yesterday and he knows what’s coming. Back in that hole, because the thought of the annual collapse is too disappointing.
I’m with the groundhog
Lets have a moment here to apply some logic and a dose of reality.
We drew with Southampton at home, a team that recently beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. But for their goalkepper and some poor finishing we should have won by three or four. We also drew at Anfied and at Stoke, neither of which are away fixtures fans would expect us to win. Tough away fixtures those two. Chelsea hurt, not least because we played with ten for 72 minutes and still deserved a point.
Are these results really that bad? No, of course not. But for those that belong to an agenda, they provide an opportunity to vent. Not that they need the opportunity really, because they moan when we win. Its a daily activity that turns them on.
I hate Fantasy Football fans and I hate agendas.
* * * *
“We have £200 million. We have £200 million. Repeat, recycle, repeat, recycle”
According to the Fantasy Accountants aka Fantasy Football Managers, we have £200 million itching to be spent. This £200 million is readily available; it not only guarnatess us success but will also guarantee we can sign the best players, the real worldies. Whoopee! These superstars wont want to stay at their own clubs – like Barca, Real or Bayern or leave to join other wealthier teams. They will not choose a warmer climate o a host of tax free benefits. No all these players will sign, you just have to wave the £200 million in their faces. Yep, these Worldies will want to go nowhere else, even though Wenger is the management equivalent of Coco the clown. Hey, not only will they be happy to join, they will also guarantee to play at their top level. They wont get injured or allow Wenger to injure them with his dinosaur approach to fitness and football. The £200 million is therefore a guarantee of the PL Title and every other honour. Its only because Wenger loves losing and hates winning that he wont spend money after all. In fact, we should just get Gary Monk out of the BBC studios and give him the £200 million. How difficult is it? (Gary Monk was on the WOB site as a possible replacement for Arsene, I kid you not. Mind you, so was Moyes before he joined Manchester United).
Meanwhile, in the North West of the Country there lives a very rich club, often refered to as the BIGGEST team in the world. This club invested around £250 million quid on a load of players and are now in the Europa league for the second season. They wont be winning the Premier League this season. This teams local rivals invested even more and failed to win the PL last season despite having the multi million players Ya Ya Toure, David Silva, Kun Aguero, Kompany and Navas in their team.
Now perhaps if Wenger had listened to his dissenters and we had spent £55m on Di Maria, £45 million on Falcao, £35 million on Benteke and £25 million on Saldado, we would have won the Premier League. Perhaps Wenger should have taken Super WOB Piers Morgans advice this morning and trucked up with the £100 million quid and the £400,000 per week wages, Moron Morgan claims would seal the transfer of Lewandowski from Bayern Munich.
No doubt Piers Morgan, along with his desciples, still leave tea and biscuits out on the 24th December and leave broken teeth under their pillows.
Gone are the days of feeling low and dejected after defeats and struggling to eat after a mid table finish. Now we get the AAA agenda members and the media antagnists who play them like a fiddle, acting like rival fans drunk on a recent success. This is not how football support is supposed to be, its supposed to be FUN.
Some fans need to get over this Pep-to-Arsenal pipe dream. It was the worst kept secret that he was set to go to City; the rest of the speculation (United, Arsenal, etc.) were all media-driven and intended to distract. He is on a salary of £15m a year and likely to be given limitless funds. Arsenal is not run that way.
Every season, around about this time, we have, word for word, the same old, same old self- flagellation following a series of poor results in our pursuit of success, either domestically or in Europe.
We of more mature years (and common sense) know full well that our great Club has no divine right to glory, neither will we avoid mishaps along the way.
Football is a sport, a game, played by humans, where there are winners and losers.
Currently, Arsenal are fighting on three fronts….. lying fourth in the EPL, the knock-out stage of the CL and the 5th round of the FA Cup, a situation envied by 99% of our rivals.
Arsene Wenger’s policy has always been to only recruit new blood where the result would strengthen the squad. The January transfer window has not produced any signing to meet this criteria.
In the meantime, our cruel long-term injury list is steadily reducing.
Those who claim to be supporters of our Club, but are of little faith, should learn to take pride in the Arsenal Way…..achieving victory from the jaws of defeat and vice versa. Performance will invariably suffer from time to time but effort will never falter. A team can only play as well as the opposition will allow.
And any bona fide criticism should only be made at the season’s end, not in mid-term.
I should say *set to be on a salary of £15m…*
Kevin, you’re right it was fun.
Those of us who know football & its finer points will always rate Wenger. Those who know fuck all about their own lives will always criticise the great achiever & praise the glory grabbers. Guardiola has done sweet FA. His glory grabbing has been so blatant. Taking a Barcelona squad to victory is a non event beacuse they have already created a pool of young talent by child trafficking. The Bayern glory is bought by tapping up all the quality of competitors. Guardiola will find the EPL a little more difficult. He will have to get the FA & its corrupt right hand organisation PGMOL on side before winning anything for his Arab paymasters.
Jose is an even bigger glory hunter. His achievements are based on similar glory grabbing. Claudio Raniery on the other hand has the best stats for an European coach in the EPL. His Chelsea exploits & now Leicester City exploits have taken his stats above all others.
Wenger’s overall contribution to EPL & to Football is immeasurable. He brought conditioning to a science that most teams follow. His moral & ethical standards are unassailable.
Rathod,
Reading your posts (and the ones’ alike you) wasn’t. I genuinely take pleasure in disliking them, as I can find nothing positive or useful in them. If you need to vent your frustrations, I would suggest buying a punching bag, stick the picture of your worst enemy on it, and have at it as long as your muscles can endure. Demonstrate you have one healthy braincell left and do a good thing for the rest of humanity that you say you care about.
Gooner eris
Arsene Wenger is on 8-10m a year and in the last 12 years has won 2 F.A cups.Pep Guardiola as you say will get 15m a year.He has won in the last 8 years 5 League trophys,3 league cups,3 supercups,3 fifa club world cups and the champions league twice.Which one would you rather have?Dont take too long to answer..
I see the clones are ganging up on the dissenters. How dare they have an opinion! This is Untold. You can’t say that here! Was it ever any different?
Show some tolerance.
Interesting, evidence-based article from ESPN link
I not going to support The Arsenal no more, I fed up of them not win all time. wiv new manager and lots of new players (board I hope you read this ) we will win,win,win, I will be very happy and much rejoicing with all my other infantile friends,
I am going off to stamp my foot now because I am very cross wiv The Arsenal team losing agai,,,
serge,
The words “tolerance” and “freedom of expression” are being abused in this context. What you and your likes forget is to bring evidence backing your assertions. Oops, forgot, you can’t, because there isn’t any.
Philbet,
So you’re only going to support Arsenal when they win? Fair weather fan/plastic/glory hunter you are.
Florian
I think Philbet is having a little joke and poking fun at John and his fellow trolls.
Florian
I’ve not offered any opinions on the article, but support everyone’s right to an opinion without having to suffer abuse. Is that what you mean by “you and your likes”?
@AI – be careful with the links. As you might have noticed, The Stupid Ones don’t like to read evidence based things.
Philbet, sorry if I misunderstood your post.
Serge,Last summer was flabbergasting, ten year austerity to build stadium was supposed to end, Puma signed big new deal, we have loads of cash from tv deal and game day revenue, and Wenger signs an aged keeper. There must have been enormous pressure on Wenger last summer to sign at least one world class player to make statement that our non-spending days were over but he did fek all. I don’t think Wenger is trying to win league title, nor do I believe Wenger thought we would win league with just Cech, Arsenal aren’t trying to win anything because Wenger prefers stasis over ambition. Afobe to score winner in last minute after Arsenal spend the first 88 minutes huffing and puffing to no end.
Yet we will have the sheep ? who will tell us all its ok ? because we have got the top four. Someone find me a gun ? to shoot these people
Serge
If you mean Rathod, his three long posts here are each copy and pasted from different blogs (last one from the mighty Le Grove himself), presumably none written by him. Bit odd,eh.
You could say, accurately this time, he ‘cloned’ the opinions he offered here.
Seems the WOB/spurs fans/rathod are unable to compose their own words, and in their desperation, have to copy and paste from other blogs without having the good manners to credit their sources.
Whatever does it for them I say, but does suggest a lack of capability of original thought, and possibly a lack of intellect?
Guess it is better to pity than respond
Rich
If Rathod C & P’d his posts then he deserves to get called out for it.
It seems to me that we all know these people, we work with them, we see them in the street, we even read about them in the papers. They are the people who cannot create, or encourage or praise, they are the destroyers. Destroyers of morale, of fellowship, and of feeling good about something. They can only draw attention to themselves by taking an anti view. Thankfully they are a minority, unfortunately they are disproportionately loud and are usually bullies. What we need to do is to ignore them. The more attention we give them, the more they will spout their dismaying nonsense. Unfortunately the more we notice them, the more we feed their cravings for attention, it’s almost like self harm, it’s really just ‘look at me, look at me’. We give them far too much credence, let’s get back to the feel good stuff, it’s why we support The Arsenal. And I mean support!
The Art Of Management.
Former pundit Gary Nevile doing a great job at Valencia.
Barcelona 7 Valencia 0
Is Mr Neville the manager naive or stubborn?
Absolutely incorrect. I am synonymous poster across the forums. Impossible to catch the Don.
I have never seen the likes of Rathood, John, Kipmonster and other aaa cheerleaders EVER post an article on UA BUT they do raise their ugly heads from the LeGrove cesspool when they smell blood in the water….real cowards.
Anyone who writes for UA cannot post the same article on another blog, that is what Tony and Walter have requested and I agree. Rathood on the other hand does copy and paste his lame efforts without any scruples or honesty…..so his character and integrity are totally questionable, as is his knowledge of Football and his motives to demean the Arsenal.
We will start winning again and will have an excellent run-in over the next 14 games, as well as the FA cup and even the CL. Watching the Arsenal play such flowing and incisive Football that failed to be rewarded on Sunday only INSPIRES confidence in their abilities and desire to win. The ONLY opinion I actually listen to is Adrian Clarke’s post-match reviews on Arsenal.com…..HE knows what he is talking about, the aaa above don’t!
Tasos
Always been one of the big questions for me : does Neville understand how much Riley and co helped and the extent to which that help was abnormal?
If he doesn’t understand then his brain has been warped by his football experiences under Ferguson here, and he is hopelessly ill-suited to any job where the standard of refereeing for his team is not that he came to expect at Utd.
results so far have certainly indicated the not being suited to elsewhere part, but the fact he presumably didn’t send out his players, defenders especially, to absolutely batter the Barca players tonight would suggest he knows perfectly well the refereeing in game 50 and elsewhere was not in any way normal.
If, as he suggests in his book, Utd merely followed Ferguson’s marvellous insights- nobody tackles them; let’s see if they like being tackled- what sort of a fucking idiot is he not to send out his players form day one to ‘tackle’ the opposition in the same way?
It worked so well; it was, he claimed, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing outside the rules of the game, so why not use it in his first job, especially when playing against the greatest attacking force in the modern game, maybe ever?
One of life’s mysteries.
I Think Tasos and Rich, Neville needs to spend that fucking money! lol
One more for any fellow Neville-loathers.
Neville: (as he expounds for five pages in his book on our lack of courage) : ‘ask Maradonna, ask Pele; they had the physical courage to withstand being kicked. Reyes couldn’t handle the rough and tumble’…blah, blah, lie, lie, bullshit,etc
Pele : (reflecting on how he felt after 66) ‘I had found the violence and lack of sportsmanship as dispiriting as the weak refereeing that allowed it to go unchecked for so long’.
Pele retired from international football for two years at that point. Thankfully he returned for an amazing last hurrah in perhaps the most glorious football team ever seen.
Neville would know fuck all about that and if he and Ferguson were allowed to ,by pathetic crooked refereeing, they would gladly have tried stopping that team or any team trying to play wonderful football, by any means.
Neville is on a downward spiral.
Yes, his career was enhanced by a cheating manager and his ref gimps, but he has no such help now in his managerial career.
He will sound shameless if he ever has a go at Wenger again, not that it will bother him.
Rich.
English football pundits are dinosaurs. The whole thing Is backwards including the way the FA interpret the rules of the game. They still think management is about jumping up and down and kicking teams with better players. Neville would always say that in his punditry. He even admitted the game plan in that 5oth game. That Riley game proves what we all know.
He has shown all other Fantasy Football Managers that talk is cheap. All the insults aimed at other managers all the criticism, all the ‘he should haves’ in the world mean nothing. He’s been found wanting and all the crap he has come out with can now be seen to be nothing more than hot air.
Anyone can use assumptions and hindsight in their quest to be seen as experts. 7-0. Hilarious. Some expert.
Rich
Valencia looked doomed. Gary Nevillle and his brother Phil are going down faster than Van Nistelroy in the box ?
As well as Neville, also seem to remember that great manager, Alan Shearer being quite critical of Wenger, Roy Keane as well……quite a collection of managerial success there to challenge the man then.
Maybe arch dogger and purveyor of domestic violence , Stan Colleymore should also try his hand at management?
7-0 indeed Mr Neville.
Saw this posted by Eduardo over at PA
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CaUtcr1WIAA558C.jpg
Proudkev
Think you’re far too kind to bracket him with the dinosaurs.
Kicking Reyes about the park shamelessly, presumably while knowing normal rules didn’t apply for his team in the match, is enough to make me strongly dislike, but perhaps not hate the man.
My hate comes from the way he has embraced the campaign of lies that were necessary to try cover what happened that day. Obscene lies and distortions which set new parameters for how we would be treated by the press, fellow managers and, of course, by referees, from that point until today.
Game 50 was bad enough as a one off event, but i believe even that was a paltry amount of damage compared to what directly followed from it. I read Neville’s book last week and this became startlingly clear to me. The lies he presents as the truth are part of the story the entire media and most fans believe is true today.
If what he says is true- for instance if his wild foul on Reyes was not a booking, and it wasn’t a scandal that Riley didn’t book him (or if Scholes ridiculous foul on Reyes that same season wasn’t an assault that should have seen red) then, of course, any fouls like that are also not certain bookings. Only, as his analysis of games proved beyond doubt, he does generally know what a booking is, very well.
So what it means is, literally, that the rules are different when playing us. An absurd thing for anyone to suggest. Yet that is the reality. He has made huge contributions towards that absurdity, all while denying any such thing, as he is bound to do. With such massive distortions having large real effects, well, it made it inevitable that people would play with much more aggression against us.
Referees and the media meanwhile were pretty much obliged to stay consistent with how they reacted to game 50. Anything else would draw attention to their failings that day. The die was cast, broken legs and dozens of dozens of criminally bad refereeing performances followed.
So dinosaur isn’t strong enough for me. He’s a c***. I’ll enjoy his misfortune and groan when he returns to do more damage to us.
Rich
Good points about Neville.
I have wondered for some time if a recording of the full match of Invincibles 50 is still available and if our hard pressed UA referees would have time to carry out a review of the match – to remind us all of just how bad the Neville sisters & co were and also the complicity of Riley.
Anyway, I enjoy your comments.
John –
Arsene Wenger built the team that won 2 FA cups in the last 2 years. His legacy is a team & a squad of youngsters, with a stadium, a training facility, a system of football & a whole bunch of Arsenal supporters who love him.
Pep Guardiola was gifted his team & still couldn’t do more than win a few trophies at huge cost. Has PG left a legacy? Not that I can see. He had a team in Barcelona that was built by predecessors & once again didn’t leave anything new. He may be flavour of the month for trophy dickheads but couldn’t build a lego kit. Barcelona are still winning with a new manager – it’s the legacy of others (Cryuff) & the child trafficking system.
Rathod keep banging on about signing world class this world class that, now go look at the big money spenders and see how many world class players did they get during the transfer period and what league position are they in at the moment? Now, I’m not sure how old you are but think realistically, if all the world class players want to play in BPL don’t you think they would already? I mean it’s not like the clubs in England are financially poor. Take an example, Man United they are one of the world richest club but even they couldn’t buy a world class striker, so if they can’t get one how will arsenal get one? Now you bang on that Wenger has no ambition and he doesn’t spend, so I guess Alexis and Ozil was given for free??
I’m no football genius or have great football knowledge like Rathod an co. But can somebody explain to me what is a ‘world class player’? I mean take a look a Vardy last season the guy was an unknown and couldn’t score now he is ‘world class’. How about Kane nobody know who he was a couple of seasons ago and now he is ‘world class’. So please explain what is ‘world class’ player?
For those who think ‘world class’ Pep is the answer to who could replace Arsene Lothar Mattheas’s comments about the state of the Bayern dressing room now is highly indicative of the character of the man. Ok for some but I think not the Arsenal way. At one stage I heard some ‘gooners’ back Gary (Chopper) Neville to replace Arsene based on his punditry. But what happens when you let a fan run the club…Peter Lim who owns Valencia and has a stake in Salford City is a big fan of ManU and Gary Neville so much so that he placed his sound business sense aside and let his fan emotion rule. Anyone can talk a good game after the fact about what could or should have been done. But I see only Wenger being able to deliver time and time again. On the field a couple of teams can get a result against Arsenal and even then, only with significant help. Only Riley’s mob can hurt a Wenger team. Keep up the pressure on them with your reports and articles, Walter and Tony. COYG!
@ Mandy Dodd’
Great link. Thanks. I bet he didn’t predict that result.
People jumping on the Neville bandwagon today to divert the attention from the messiah. I wonder who they will blame when Bournemouth hit five past us on Sunday.
OMG… I have posted on here well before the hideous results. Scroll through some earlier reports mate.
@ Mandy Dodd – February 3, 2016 at 11:56 pm -Great link . Hope he takes his own advice ( as may on here do !) and does not come back ! At least until he has some measure of revenge by beating Barca by the same score !
A man named Jack strides into John’s Stable looking to buy a horse.
“Listen here,” says John, the owner. “I’ve got just the horse you’re looking for. The only thing is he was trained by an interesting fellow. He doesn’t stop and go the usual way. The way to get him to stop is to yell ‘heyhey!’, and the way to get him to go is by yelling ‘Thank God!'”
Jim nodded his head. “Fine with me. Can I take him for a test run?”
John agrees. A few minutes later, Jim is having the time of his life, thinking to himself that the horse sure could run fast. As he speeds down a dirt road, he panics as he realizes there’s a cliff-edge fast approaching.
“Stop!” screams Jim, to no avail.
He remembers what he has to say to make the horse stop just five feet from the edge and yells: “HEYHEY!”
The horse skids to a halt, with just an inch to spare before a sheer drop of hundreds of feet. Gasping, Jim looks over the cliff-edge in disbelief at his good fortune.
He looks up to the sky, raises his hands in the air and breathes a deep sigh of relief. With conviction, he says: “Thank God!”
bjt,
You meant this?
A very fine article Don , thanks . And from the comments , I can only observe that maybe the mothers should have thrown the baby along with the bathwater ! At very least that bump in the head might have got them thinking straight !
Am just glad that at my age I can contemplate the more serious conditions that afflict our world than on just who to buy , sack , blame or ought to kick in the nuts .Very much like this guy…..
I mowed the lawn today, and after doing so I sat down and had a cold beer.
The day was really quite beautiful, and the drink facilitated some deep thinking.
My wife walked by and asked me what I was doing, and I said ‘nothing’.
The reason I said ‘nothing’ instead of saying ‘just thinking’ is because she then would have asked ‘about what?’ At that point I would have had to explain that men are deep thinkers about various topics, which would lead to other questions.
Finally I pondered an age old question: Is giving birth more painful than getting kicked in the nuts? Women always maintain that giving birth is way more painful than a guy getting kicked in the nuts, but how could they “know”? Well, after another beer, and some more heavy deductive thinking, I have come up with an answer to that question.
Getting kicked in the nuts is more painful than having a baby, and even though I obviously couldn’t really “know”, here is the reason for my conclusion. A year or so after giving birth, a woman will often say, “It might be nice to have another child.” On the other hand, you never hear a guy say, “You know, I think I would like another kick in the nuts.”
I rest my case. Time for another beer, and then maybe a nap in that hammock.
You know you are losing it when you have to post about other managers struggling.I was never a fan of Nevilles but i did enjoy some of his punditry and the way he called a spade a spade.He could be sometimes harsh on his assessment of arsenal but a lot of what he said was true.That is why he was empleyed by sky and we just post on messageboards.We are starting to see the same failings this season that has happened to us regularly over the last 12 years.Have we got a team of bottlers who cannot handle pressure?Are we hampered every season by injuries and referees?Or are we not doing enough transfer wise to secure the best players and have we got the best manager.We were told by Arsene after he personally built the stadium that we needed to leave highbury “compete with the very best in europe”.We are struggling at the moment to compete in england.
Omg arsenal before you start calling posters ugly i would take your pic down .And as for calling some of us cowards ,as someone ex forces i advise you not to go down that route..
And Menace i applaud your post ,,at last there was no ramblings on about the referees.Must of been hard but you did it..
bjtgooner
Thanks. I think that’s an excellent idea to do a review of that game .
I hope they’ve a better method of coping with anger than me, though. 5 pages on us in Neville’s book were enough to leave me furious for half a day last week- not helped by looking up the highlights of the game afterwards and checking out Scholes’ foul at same time.
Rathod
If I’m jumping on the Neville bandwagon today I’ve done some great work (with my Delorean?) to cover my tracks.
Only article I’ve ever submitted to a blog was about Neville (here, at start of season). My loathing of him was the same then as it is now for the same reasons. Similarly, I’ve mentioned him a good dozen times in the past. Last week I forced myself to read his book.
If it’s an honest mistake on your part and you really do think I’m only going on about Neville as some sort of ploy (to divert attention or whatever), your error is probably to imagine other people all think and act the same way you do.
Not the case. I’ve tons of flaws but that isn’t among them.
Rich, as a player I loathed Neville and to be honest some of his criticism of us I thought at first over the top and biased. However, if you actually listen to what he is saying then in a way he’s spot on. Have we actually improved? Yes, if you take into account the two FA cup wins. However, is that what you want to settle with when the league was within our grasp?
When there are 15 mins to go in a game we have to win to keep pace with the leaders Arsene brings on a defensive midfielder. But you’re right, that’s not Wenger’s fault. I think he confuses being in fourth with being at the top. Arsenal have underachieved for more than a decade. Even at their peak they were second best. And this is the reason why after 20 years it’s finally going to happen. Spurs are going to finish above Arsenal. There’s one main reason for this, they actually play as a team. All of their players put in a shift and boy does it show.
On the other hand we’ve got Arsenal who are nothing but a team of individuals at this point. Ozil has more or less carried us through the first part of the season and did that again creating 10(!) chances throughout the match, but one man can’t do it all.
Whilst Spurs, Leicester and City were all working their socks off and reaping the rewards, players like Giroud have decided it would be fine to just stand around and wait for a chance to put on a plate for them.
Ramsey and Flamini have decided they want to become attacking mids and abandon their centre mid posts. In contrast to this players like Vardy and Kane are working hard to find space for chances to be created and players like Drinkwater, Kante, Dier etc are actually playing where their manager has put them and doing the job they’ve been given.
I don’t really know if Wenger hasn’t motivated the players or if they are simply not fit enough to do what a majority of the Spurs/Leicester players have been doing. But one thing is for sure, Spurs are a better team than we are. We may have better individuals but as a cohesive unit they are streets ahead.
I can’t see a way that Arsenal will be able to finish above Spurs when, bar the City and Bournemouth games, we’ve been playing like a team of individuals for 2 or 3 months. But hey, Wenger will still be rewarded for yet another sub par season with a new contract. Who needs Pep..?
John.
I think Neville is just being used to prove that sitting in an armchair making wild assumptions and accusations, while using hindsight to back up an argument, is flawed.
That’s the point.
Some fans will have nodded their heads in agreement whenever Neville spoke about what Wenger was doing wrong and what he would do diffrent. Neville, the man who openly talks about kicking players as a legitimate tactic and one he supports.
So it is as much about Neville being a thug as it is Nevill proving talk is cheap. We can all play the fantasy football game because we actually have no idea what it is like to manage a top flight football club. We dont know the players, nor do we see them train. We dont know how difficult it is to sign world class players. We have never undergone transfer negotiations. We dont work with the coaches.
and thats the point.
While most pundits, presenters, hacks and fans may talk a good game, they are deluded. The realists know this and so too do most of the pundits, otherwise they would stop preening like peacocks on Sky and put their tracksuits on. At least Neville had the guts to do the job.
But he deserves everything he gets because hypocrisy must be hilighted
John
John said: “That is why he was empleyed by sky and we just post on messageboards”
Oh the irony………….!!! That made me laugh John, sorry.
Actually, he was employed by Sky because he was a well known ex player, not for any other reason. Ditto the rest of the clowns who seem to think football managment is easy just because they played the game. What abot the anti wenger cheer leaders like Piers Morgan, Adrian Durham, Alan Brazil, Micky Quinn. Have they done anything to prove they know what they are talking about?
The fact we have people who hang on every word these clowns spew is a sad indictment of modern day fans and their willingness to beleive anything that supports their own argument.
Its called FANTASY FOOTBALL John.
They want my respect, they want me to listen – well go do the job and prove you know what the hell you are talking about. Don’t sit in TV studio being all smug while judging a top manager on what ‘you’ would have done differently based on hindsight, knowing damn well that can never be proved or disproved. Any idiot can do that and believe me there are a lot of idiots who work in TV/Radio studios, write in Newspapers and who hide behing their anonymity on message boards and social media. I am stunned top football clubs aren’t head hunting the TV pundits or the football geniuses that parade around on blogs abusing everyone.
Perhaps that tells you something.
In it he said Arsenal had made a bad decison signing Dennis Bergkamp. He said he would struggle in English football and that he would never have signed him. he added that he would have signed Stan Collymore instead. He got this wrong and failed as a Manager, yet he is still wheeled out as an expert.
Rathod/Somil (etc)
“I wonder who they will blame when Bournemouth hit five past us on Sunday”.
Interesting comment. Did you copy and paste this like the multi posts yesterday or did you manage this brain stormer yourself?
Get a life mate instead of trolling Gooners.
Florian @ 7.32am
Thank you for that link – I had forgotten!
Max, if Tottenham are so much better than Arsenal, how come they are on the same number of points as Arsenal?
I must have missed a match this season between Arsenal vs Spurs, from memory I am sure Arsenal knocked them out of the Capital One Cup on their turf, and didn’t we drew 1-1 on our turf with a lot of our players injured. I must have miss a match where Spurs are better than us. Granted they are in-form but please they are better than Arsenal as a team that’s a bit of a stretch. They will be a one season wonder.
Max – can you name anything that Pep has built or created from scratch? Yet you raet him better than Wenger who created the taem that you supposedly support.
Rathod where were you when Arsenal won the FA cup? I bet your mother was feeding you dal chavel by hand. It is time you learned to eat on your own.
Max
We see things differently. Would be a very long post if I was to go into what I don’t agree with from your views there so I’ll just focus solely on the Spurs issue.
All of us fans are hating seeing them where they are now and looking very strong with it, but it seems more than odd to concede to them while level on points with all these games left.
A popular criticism of the team, though one you didn’t directly make, is that they lack heart and fight.
Not true for me, but what an irony that most of our fans who say this are ready to concede defeat at the first opportunity.
The other thing. Look at the dreadful prospect of them actually finishing above us or even winning the thing. That would be heralded as the ultimate disgrace for Wenger and proof he was finished.
As a mental exercise,though, tell me what you’d do if you oversaw a large corporation that had two separate companies competing in the same market. This has been going on for twenty years and one company has performed better than the rival each year. The same man has been in charge of the more successful company while the other one has appointed about ten people to the main role.
One year, the losing company finally wins. Does this prove that the new winner is now a better company and is sure/likely to maintain the advantage next year? Does it prove that the man in charge of that new winner is better than the rival who has just lost for the first time? Finally, as the head of the corporation would you promptly summon and fire the man whose record now reads something like 19/20?
Boxer who has beaten a guy 19 times and then loses the 20th (doesn’t work as well that one as Spurs’ brains would be pulp after all the ko’s), or law firm whose hot shot lawyer has triumphed in 19 cases then finally loses one.
Anyway, don’t get me wrong here, beating Spurs is not the main objective nor measurement of where we stand, but if anyone chooses to make it so the things I’m saying apply I reckon.
If any further context is needed then it’s worth remembering it is only in Wenger’s time that something like indisputable superiority, year upon year was established. Our last great manager before Wenger finished above them in 6 of 8 seasons. In the five years before Graham’s first full year Spurs were higher in 3 of those seasons.
Gotta use this as a chance to use one of my favourite sports quotes. Vitas Gerulatis. He lost 16 matches in a row to Jimmy Connors. After finally defeating him, he was asked how he did it and replied ‘because nobody beats Vitas Gerulatis 17 times in a row!’
Unfortunately, whereas he was joking, in football people will be deadly serious whenever Spurs manage to finish above us that they are kings and we are crap.
Nobody beats Spurs 21, 25, 30 or whatever it turns out to be times in a row!
5 points from top with 14 games to go and ‘We are struggling at the moment to compete in England’. Man City spent over £150 million in transfer window and they are 3 points from top so they must be ‘struggling at the moment to compete in England’ too. Man United £250 million in transfer window and they are ‘struggling at the moment to compete in England’. Newcastle United spent over £100 million on transfers and they ‘are struggling at the moment to compete in england’. Stoke City spent over £50 million on transfers and they ‘are struggling at the moment to compete in england’. Notice a pattern here.
It’s funny that these anti-Wenger say we can’t win the title because of our current form, and that the team are bottlers, granted we are not doing well at the moment but that could change, why? Look at Man City they went months without a win away from home, now with some injured players back they’re starting to win away games, so why this turn around not applicable to Arsenal? The problem we are having at the moment is goal scoring but we had this problem at start of season and after a while the goals started to come, it will be the same once all the return players start to gel with the rest of the squad.
Rich, Tony, Menace: out of all the top 4 sides we have scored the least goals .I don’t think you can keep on claiming that it is just bad luck that we failed to score . Gk’s are there to make saves . Forester does those sort of saves all the time. Hart did similar against Sunderland -it’s up to the opposition to find ways to beat these top keepers.
Ozil is not a prolific goal scorer anyway and his shots were laizze faire in their execution more of passes than shots – as for Wally he who hesitates is lost – he should have just hit the ball first time but instead he took a touch and steadied himself before shooting – that allowed Forester to get himself poised to make a save. We never looked convincing in the game and have not looked so for some time now. I suspect that Barcelona will not be so accommodating when they get some offered to them.
We were in a two-horse race now sit in fourth (check). And despite years of laughable excuses about “oil money”, Leicester and Spurs who spend less combined on wages are streets ahead. Yes we maybe on the same points as #Spurs but be ready to see our mercernaires get walloped on Sunday and Spuds will be happily sitting above the once called mighty Gunners.
Finally, to sum up all the aggravation here by the likes of Rathod, John and Sege: we are a club that we all FEEL should be winning titles, but we can all see are not good enough now to actually DO it. Many believe that the blame for this lies with a manager too old, stubborn and tactically inept to enable us to repeat past glories; others point to a business-driven ethos focused on financial success at the expense of sporting success, to which it is indifferent. A few people link these two factors and say such a situation benefits the power-brokers who run the club, who DON’T care about the football, but not the true stakeholders, ie us the fans, who DO care about it. A smaller group of fans want nothing to do with this blame game and, like the manager, attribute our continuing failures to officials, weather conditions, “bad luck”, teams “wanting to beat us”, etc. The first group want the manager changed in a bid to remedy the situation; the second group don’t see the point because it’s all down to luck or whatever, which would presumably remain the case whoever’s in charge. And, anyway, they have a great regard for AW’s undoubted achievements in a cosy, distant past. But I know which camp I am in; it’s time for AW to go – NOW – if things are to change, and it’s time for owners to come in who DO care about the football, as we do. For as long as we’re stuck in this situation NOTHING will change, including all the endlessly repeated and divisive arguments here. Come on Arsenal!
Spurs and Poch are a much more apposite comparison than Man City / PG. Spurs look to be on a very upward trajectory. It is not inconceivable they could win the league this season – rightly or wrongly, if that happens, this will create enormous pressure on Wenger. They are not financially doped and if they win the league it makes a lot of the arguments put forward on this site about how wonderfully well Wenger has done look somewhat hollow.
John…you are a true jester; you don’t have the guts to put your photo because UA readers would mistake it for a picture of your posterior. As for you being ¨ex-forces¨ and me being “afraid” to go down that route that has to be the most comical of all your flatulent comments!
I am retired navy and happily willing to go down that route you cowardly idiot…..wonder how you are going to make good on your threat…..that only a coward like you would make, knowing he can’t actually do anything and happy not to be shown for the flat-track bully you are….what a hollow,vacuous person you are and a copycat cut and paste specialist in failure as well! I write for UA, which you have NEVER done, because it is too hard to cut and paste a full article on here….and take flack for it, as you surely would.
Anyway FUCK RIGHT OFF you simpering dickhead…..go to LeGrovel where shits like you enjoy each other’s fetid odour!
Excuse the angry reply Tony but this nitwit needed sorting out!
Max your commentaries contain a lot of assertion and repetition. I’ve published this but no more please, unless you can produce some evidence, or indeed something new to say.
@Menace – I have noticed over the last few months that the branch of The Stupid Ones that want Mourinho as Wenger’s replacement hate Guardiola even more than Wenger.
Guardiola took over at Barca when they had been behind Real Madrid and with number of expensive and famous yet past their best players. They were so poor that United had easily knocked them out in the 2007-08 semifinals. Guardiola made a cut, turned Xavi and Iniesta into the most dominant midfield axis ever and changed football in a way that Spanish national team copied & pasted Barcelona game. He did spend money but he also sold a lot of expensive and useless players.
Guardiola could have chosen an easy way with Bayern and simply keep doing what Heynckes did. He reshuffled things completely.
He is a real gentleman who likes to play wonderful football. It’s a shame he didn’t want to wait until Arsene retires to take over at Arsenal.
Repetition? I stated the Facts Tony. Evidence… Look at our goal scoring record compared with other teams and there you have your evidence.
Didn’t realise this was a science exam.
Max on the issue of goals, as with myself on the issue of points, facts were indeed stated. Elsewhere, not very many.
Untold has promulgated the notion of evidence based football discussion for many years. I wouldn’t call that a science exam, but it is the site that we are. Writing to Untold with opinion rather than evidence is like writing to a bee keeping magazine and saying bees shouldn’t be kept. Maybe it is a valid view, but is hardly likely to find a welcome therein.
Josif – Guardiola turned Barca around with his footballing knowledge but he didn’t build the team. I agree he got rid of several so called worldclass players to make his squad into a team. Wenger has done that for many years in England but has had to swim against a tide (I’ll not bother to detail). Wenger creates the squad & from it picks a team. Barca has a very classic set of financial support similar to FIFA. You really need to examine the financials to understand that. Bayern also have a classic set of financial support. Just look at the German league & backtrack the buys of quality from immediate competitors. This facilitates the likes of Jose & Pep to shine.
Where as Wenger finds raw stones; cuts them into good shape; fits them into the jewellery of an Arsenal team, Pep only shines existing gems as did Jose. When these gems stop sparkling is when these managers qualities are tested. You will see what happens when Pep gets to Man City.
He will have the biggest financial assistance & will have a lot of gems but he will also have a tide that he has never had to swim against. Raniery has on the other hand a much better pedigree than both Pep & Jose. He has worked well within the tide but it has so far favoured him. He will struggle when the tide turns against him.
Wenger is strict in his approach to the game & to the ethics & morals within society.
Those of you who have a mortgage will realise that it is the biggest financial burden in your lives (there again your daddy might own an oil well & no burden exists). Wenger has had to deal with a similar financial burden whilst keeping his footballing team at a level despite the tide in a position to return financial rewards as opposed to trophies. A good business survives on good financial control not on trophies.
Trophies for the intelligent come after the finances are stabilised.
Errm Tony, I’m sorry what do you mean when you say evidence? I can point instances of lack of evidence in most posts on the site, both in the articles and comments, as long as they are in line with the sites theme. I have nothing against that actually, but this hypocrisy that the site is fact based is just funny
people picking on Neville for losing 7-0 seem to have forgotten Wenger losses of 8-2, 6-1, and so on. what is it about Wenger that makes him untouchable? even Steve jobs was once pushed out of apple, a company he founded. Wenger should be showing ambition after 10 years of austerity
Wenger’s teams have lost but his team has also gone a whole season undefeated after he predicted it could.
Neville is a dim idiot who could only act on behalf of a jealous boss that couldn’t gain anything on a football pitch without foul means. Neville talked a good management technique but has proved almost beyond doubt that words come cheap. He & his ugly brother (referred to as te UGLY sisters) have absolutely destroyed the name of English coaching abroad. THey have not been able to win anything apart from abuse from all & sundry.
Bist – Wenger is not untouchable. He’s just unassailable.
@bist you make a great point, losing 7-0 to a barca team that just won all titles winnable in your first month as a coach is better than losing 6-0 to a Chelsea team that only came 3rd after 30years as a coach and over 50,000 subs. I think akbs should not be the ones laughing at Neville
Omgarsenal.
I would love to go toe to toe with and aging unshaved matlow.You may have taxid me about in the 90s with 40 CDO. I see you have to resort to obsenities when you cant get your point across.As for your blogs they are full of Wenger loving drivel that if you posted anywhere else would be laughed at.
You can’t even spell John but I challenge you to write a full article on UA, and cut the narcissistic bullshit you excrete from your fetid brain. Put your money where your mouth is mate and take the challenge….without cut and paste please!
I am sure Mandy,Menace and other UA faithful would love to tear your cowardly little carcass apart after reading what you collectively dumped with the help of your LeGrovel mates!
Full of agression arent you matlow.A right old keyboard warrior.You and menace a right old pair.Your not a couple by any chance??Anyway enough of the fancy name calling what about the season ,you will be very happy with a top 4 finish again.The lack of ambition in our once great manager certainly has rubbed off on you.Goodnight.
Johnny boy, If you’re 46 then theres a serious case of arrested development on your side.We all question your sexuality as I am sure you’re a eunuch but that said, I see you’re cowardly refusal to take up my reasonable challenge is as predicted.
Tony & Walter would welcome an article from you since you are such an expert on all things AFC with no hidden agenda, right? Come on, be a semi-man and write an article for us!!!
I will be happy wherever we finish as I know, unlike you, that Wenger and AFC will do their best to win it and unlike you,I am willing to wait until the end of May to pass any judgements, as Adrian Clarke advised all TRUE Gooners to behave.
Anyway, since you’ve avoided my challenge, we all now know who is the true wanker …. so Johnny boy, sleep tight and don’t let the Spuds bite.